Ethena Proposes 100% Revenue Buyback for ENA Token

Revenue Shifted to ENA Buybacks

The Ethena Foundation has launched a governance vote to direct all net revenue from its branded businesses toward buying back its ENA token. If approved, effectively 100% of that net revenue would be used for these purchases.

The proposal went live on the Snapshot voting platform on Thursday, Aug. 27. It had already received approval from Ethena’s Risk Committee. The Foundation did not announce a closing date for the vote.

Key Governance and Ownership Changes

• Ethena Labs and the Foundation signed a Master Framework Agreement. This assigns protocol intellectual property and ownership of accrued value exclusively to the Foundation.
• Labs equity investors will no longer have a claim on protocol cash flow.
• The Foundation stated that these assets will be governed by ENA holders.
• Ethena’s token-transparency filing notes that Labs is a Portuguese company providing services to the Foundation. It holds no ownership interest in the Foundation and cannot appoint its directors.
• ENAs do not currently have a contractual right to revenue distributions, though future revenue allocation is within the scope of ENA governance.

Investor Token Buyout

The Foundation also announced it bought all remaining locked ENA tokens from certain major seed investors who sold during the previous nine months. The announcement did not identify the investors, quantify the number of tokens, or disclose the purchase price.

Previously, 25% of the 15 billion ENA supply was allocated to investors, with a one-year cliff followed by monthly vesting over three years. The Foundation and lead investors agreed to release unvested investor tokens to remove future monthly unlocks. Team tokens remain subject to their original vesting schedules.

Revenue Allocation Context

A March 2026 update disclosed how USDe fees were routed: 54.6% to sUSDe rewards, 27.9% to partner rewards, and 17.5% to an Aave leverage program. Under the new proposal, if approved, net revenue would instead fund ENA buybacks.

What Is Confirmed

The vote is live on Snapshot with Risk Committee approval. The Foundation has purchased remaining locked investor tokens, though details on quantity and price remain undisclosed. The IP and value accrual framework now assigns ownership to the Foundation, governed by ENA holders.

What Is Still Unclear

The closing date for the governance vote has not been announced. The specific identities of the seed investors who sold their locked tokens, the total number of tokens purchased, and the buyout price were not disclosed.

Why This Matters for Ethena

This move shifts the economic model of Ethena. Instead of distributing fees to partners and reward pools, the protocol would use its net revenue to buy back and remove ENA tokens from circulation. It also clarifies the legal relationship between the development company (Labs) and the governing Foundation.

Sources

• The Defiant